Death toll in Pakistan's train hijacking rises to 31, army says

By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The death toll from a militant hijacking of a train in Pakistan's southwestern mountains has risen to 31 soldiers, staff and civilians, the military said on Friday as it accused India and Afghanistan of backing the insurgents.

The separatist Baloch Liberation Army, which claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack, released a statement saying its fighters had escaped with 214 hostages and since executed all of them, without giving any evidence to back that up.

Militants took over the Jaffar Express in a remote mountain pass in Balochistan province, blowing up train tracks in the attack then holding passengers hostage in a day-long standoff.

Army spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said soldiers killed 33 of the insurgents, rescued 354 hostages and brought the siege to a close. He added there was nothing to suggest the BLA had taken other hostages from the scene.

A final count showed 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers had died in the attack and rescue mission, Chaudhry said, up from a previous estimate of 25 casualties.

He added that Pakistan had evidence that India and Afghanistan had backed the insurgents, echoing accusations made by the foreign ministry after the attack. Both countries have denied the accusation.

The separatist group released a statement in response to the army, saying it had killed all the hostages in its custody. Pakistani officials have accused the group of making exaggerated claims in the past.

"This battle is not over yet but has intensified," the BLA said in its statement.

The BLA is the largest and strongest of several ethnic Baloch insurgent groups which have been fighting for decades to win independence for the mineral-rich province, home to major China-led projects including a port and gold and copper mines.

(This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the army spokesperson's name to Ahmed, not Ahmad, in paragraph 4)

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Andrew Heavens and William Mallard)